For a German solar technology company, the road to Toledo -- oddly -- went through Abu Dhabi.
It was in that Middle Eastern city that Peter Fischer, who last year started a German company to specialize in solar panel supports, attended an alternative energy conference in January. Already planning to open an office in North America, Fischer was looking at California or Toronto as a possible home for his company. Then he met officials from the University of Toledo's Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, and accepted an invitation to visit northwestern Ohio.
The result was TecnoSun Solar Systems signing a one-year lease in April to locate its North American headquarters in the university's Nitschke Technology complex to take advantage of the area's strong solar technology community. Having recruited Greg Knudson, formerly the vice president of technology with the Regional Growth Partnership and director of Rocket Ventures, as the new headquarter's CEO the company is now on the fast track to get its North America operations running.
TecnoSun's contract includes an option to expand its current 1,400-square-foot office in the future and another option to extend to term of its lease by two years. The company expects to add between 20-30 high-tech jobs when operations begin. The company has already made a splash in the solar community after opening its doors in Germany last year, producing solar panel supports that react to weather conditions. Using sensors, the system moves solar panels to track the sun as it crosses the sky, keeping them in position to maximize power output. The system also moves panels to protect them from severe winds and other threatening weather.
Fischer, in committing to the Toledo solar community, is also serious about the TecnoSun's commitment to Ohio businesses, says Knudson.
"All the manufactured products used in the supports will be made in Ohio," he explains. "It will be all local content. We want to build a supply chain with local companies, and ."
Knudson is in Germany this week to finalize incorporation paperwork for the new headquarters and meet with TecnoSun's 20 German staff members. Afterwards, TecnoSun has to go through the United Laboratories certification process required for U.S. products before hiring can start and production can begin in earnest. That should be later this year, Knudson says.
Source: Greg Knudson, CEO/TecnoSun Solar USA
Writer: Dave Malaska